'Come and get a taste of normal': Advertising, consumerism and the Coronavirus pandemic

Sobande, Francesca ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4788-4099 and Klein, Bethany 2023. 'Come and get a taste of normal': Advertising, consumerism and the Coronavirus pandemic. European Journal of Cultural Studies 26 (4) , pp. 493-509. 10.1177/13675494221108219

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Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues to present unique challenges to governments and organisations around the world, but one sector has incorporated COVID-19 into its core mission with relative ease: advertisers have acknowledged the pandemic while continuing to draw on notions of ‘normality’ to activate our desire to consume. As the UK’s series of lockdowns have come to an end, we look back over more than a year of unusual advertising and consider how the pandemic has changed approaches to marketing and the shape of consumer culture in ways connected to ideas about what constitutes ‘normal’ life. Discussions of the relationship between the pandemic and consumerism have included critiques of the prioritising of profit over people, and conceptualisations of Coronavirus as a brand itself, but the politics of notions of ‘normality’ promoted by consumer culture demand closer consideration. This article complements existing studies and debates by examining the tensions, contradictions and morally neutral positions revealed by the advertising response to the coronavirus disease pandemic. Through an analysis of UK advertising campaigns launched during and with reference to the pandemic, this work explores key themes and strategies, including their connection to power dynamics concerning race, gender, class and capitalism. We suggest advertising during crises may offer the opportunity to critique larger dynamics and trends of consumerism, including narrow notions of the defining features of ‘everyday’ life.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Journalism, Media and Culture
Additional Information:	This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	1367-5494
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	27 June 2022
Date of Acceptance:	1 June 2022
Last Modified:	30 Sep 2023 10:17
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/150812

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